EP2300930B1

Movatterモバイル変換

Info

Publication number: EP2300930B1
Application number: EP09795215.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Yulun Wang; Charles S. Jordan; Marco Pinter
Original assignee: InTouch Technologies Inc
Current assignee: InTouch Technologies Inc
Priority date: 2008-07-11
Filing date: 2009-07-09
Publication date: 2015-07-01
Anticipated expiration: 2029-07-09
Also published as: KR102110291B1; CN106956269A; EP2300930A4; US20100010673A1; CN102089751A; JP2015226977A; EP2300930A1; JP6889669B2; KR20160077226A; WO2010006211A1; JP2011528570A; US20210366605A1; KR20170100069A; KR20110042269A; US9842192B2; US20180286512A1; JP2018075713A; US10878960B2

Description

BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION

1.Field of the Invention

The subject matter disclosed generally relates to the field of robotics.

2.Background Information

Robots have been used in a variety of applications ranging from remote control of hazardous material to assisting in the performance of surgery. For example,U.S. Patent No. 5,762,458 issued to Wang et al. discloses a system that allows a surgeon to perform minimally invasive medical procedures through the use of robotically controlled instruments. One of the robotic arms in the Wang system moves an endoscope that has a camera. The camera allows a surgeon to view a surgical area of a patient.
There has been marketed a mobile tele-presence robot introduced by InTouch Technologies, Inc., the assignee of this application, under the trademark RP-7. The InTouch robot is controlled by a user at a remote station. The remote station may be a personal computer with a joystick that allows the user to remotely control the movement of the robot. Both the robot and remote station have cameras, monitors, speakers and microphones to allow for two-way video/audio communication. The robot camera provides video images to a screen at the remote station so that the user can view the robot's surroundings and move the robot accordingly.
U.S. Pat. 7,158,860 issued to Wang et al. and assigned to the owner of the present application, InTouch Technologies, Inc. discloses a tele-presence robot system that includes a primary remote control station and one or more secondary control stations that are all linked to a tele-presence robot. The system allows the secondary stations to observe the video/audio feed provided by the robot. This allows the users of the secondary station to be trained through the robot and primary station. It would be desirable to modify such a system to implement more features such as the ability for two-way communication between stations, or the transfer of robot control to one of the secondary stations.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A remote controlled robot system that comprises a first remote control station receiving video from a robot, said first remote control station located at a first location and a second remote control station receiving video from said robot, said second remote control station located at a second location different from said first location, wherein the first remote control station is a master remote control station having exclusive control of the robot and the second remote control station is an observer remote control station.
The said first remote station displays a display user interface including a robot view field that displays said video provided by said robot, an observer view field that displays observer information about an observer at the observer remote control station, and a manually selectable feature that allows the master remote control station to transfer control of said robot to the observer remote station.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is an illustration of a robotic system;
Figure 2 is a schematic of an electrical system of a robot;
Figure 3 is side view of the robot;
Figure 4 is a schematic of a robotic system wherein multiple remote stations are coupled to the robot;
Figure 5 is an illustration of a user interface;
Figure 6 is an illustration of a message popup of the user interface;
Figures 7A-C are illustrations of graphical messages;
Figure 8 is an illustration of the user interface shown inFig. 5 with a pull-down menu;
Figure 9 is an illustration showing a user interface for an observer remote control station;
Figure 10 is an illustration similar toFig. 5 showing microphone volume control features;
Figure 11 is an illustration of a dialog box showing bandwidth requirement of the system during a session;
Figure 12 is a side view of a robot head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed is a graphical user interface for a remote controlled robot system that includes a robot view field that displays information provided by a robot and an observer view field that displays observer information about one or more observers that can receive the robot information. The interface has various features that allow a master user to control the observation and participation of observers..
Referring to the drawings more particularly by reference numbers,Figure 1 shows an embodiment ofrobot system 10. Therobot system 10 includes arobot 12, abase station 14 and a plurality ofremote control stations 16. Eachremote control station 16 may be coupled to thebase station 14 through anetwork 18. By way of example, thenetwork 18 may be either a packet switched network such as the Internet, or a circuit switched network such has a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or other broadband system. Thebase station 14 may be coupled to thenetwork 18 by amodem 20 or other broadband network interface device.
Eachremote control station 16 may include acomputer 22 that has amonitor 24, acamera 26, amicrophone 28 and aspeaker 30. Thecomputer 22 may also contain aninput device 32 such as a joystick or a mouse. Eachcontrol station 16 is typically located in a place that is remote from therobot 12. Although only onerobot 12 is shown, it is to be understood that thesystem 10 may have a plurality ofrobots 12. In general any number ofrobots 12 may be controlled by any number of remote stations. For example, oneremote station 16 may be coupled to a plurality ofrobots 12, or onerobot 12 may be coupled to a plurality ofremote stations 16.
Therobot 12 includes amovement platform 34 that is attached to arobot housing 36. Also attached to therobot housing 36 are acamera 38, amonitor 40, a microphone(s) 42 and aspeaker 44. Themicrophone 42 andspeaker 30 may create a stereophonic sound. Therobot 12 may also have anantenna 46 that is wirelessly coupled to anantenna 48 of thebase station 14. Thesystem 10 allows a user at theremote control station 16 to move therobot 12 through theinput device 32. Therobot camera 38 is coupled to theremote monitor 24 so that a user at theremote station 16 can view a patient. Likewise, therobot monitor 40 is coupled to theremote camera 26 so that the patient can view the user. Themicrophones 28 and 42, andspeakers 30 and 44, allow for audible communication between the patient and the user.
Eachremote station computer 22 may operate Microsoft OS software and WINDOWS XP or other operating systems such as LINUX. Theremote computer 22 may also operate a video driver, a camera driver, an audio driver and a joystick driver. The video images may be transmitted and received with compression software such as MPEG CODEC.
Figures 2 and3 show an embodiment of therobot 12. Therobot 12 may include a highlevel control system 50 and a lowlevel control system 52. The highlevel control system 50 may include aprocessor 54 that is connected to abus 56. The bus is coupled to thecamera 38 by an input/output (I/O)port 58, and to themonitor 40 by aserial output port 60 and aVGA driver 62. Themonitor 40 may include a touchscreen function that allows the patient to enter input by touching the monitor screen.
Thespeaker 44 is coupled to thebus 56 by a digital toanalog converter 64. Themicrophone 42 is coupled to thebus 56 by an analog todigital converter 66. Thehigh level controller 50 may also contain random access memory (RAM)device 68, anon-volatile RAM device 70 and amass storage device 72 that are all coupled to thebus 62. Themass storage device 72 may contain medical files of the patient that can be accessed by the user at theremote control station 16. For example, themass storage device 72 may contain a picture of the patient. The user, particularly a health care provider, can recall the old picture and make a side by side comparison on themonitor 24 with a present video image of the patient provided by thecamera 38. Therobot antennae 46 may be coupled to a wireless transceiver 74. By way of example, the transceiver 74 may transmit and receive information in accordance with IEEE 802.11b.
Thecontroller 54 may operate with a LINUX OS operating system. Thecontroller 54 may also operate MS WINDOWS along with video, camera and audio drivers for communication with theremote control station 16. Video information may be transceived using MPEG CODEC compression techniques. The software may allow the user to send e-mail to someone at the robot site and vice versa, or allow someone at the robot site to access the Internet. In general thehigh level controller 50 operates to control the communication between therobot 12 and theremote control station 16.
Thehigh level controller 50 may be linked to thelow level controller 52 byserial port 76. Thelow level controller 52 runs software routines that mechanically actuate therobot 12. For example, thelow level controller 52 provides instructions to actuate the movement platform to move therobot 12. Thelow level controller 52 may receive movement instructions from thehigh level controller 50. The movement instructions may be received as movement commands from the remote control station. Although two controllers are shown, it is to be understood that therobot 12 may have one controller controlling the high and low level functions.
Figure 3 shows an embodiment of therobot 12. Therobot 12 may include aholonomic platform 110 that is attached to arobot housing 112. Theholonomic platform 110 provides three degrees of freedom to allow therobot 12 to move in any direction.
Therobot 12 may have ahead 114 that supports thecamera 38 and themonitor 40. Thehead 114 may have two degrees of freedom so that thecamera 26 and monitor 24 can swivel and pivot as indicated by the arrows.
The system may be the same or similar to a robot system provided by the assignee InTouch-Health, Inc. of Santa Barbara, California under the trademark RP-7. The system may also be the same or similar to the system disclosed inU.S. Patent No. 6,925,357 issued August 2, 2005.
In operation, therobot 12 may be placed in a home, public or commercial property, or a facility where one or more patients are to be monitored and/or assisted. The facility may be a hospital or a residential care facility. By way of example, therobot 12 may be placed in a home where a health care provider may monitor and/or assist the patient. Likewise, a friend or family member may communicate with the patient. The cameras and monitors at both the robot and remote control stations allow for teleconferencing between the patient and the person at the remote station(s).
Therobot 12 can be maneuvered through the home, property or facility by manipulating theinput device 32 at aremote station 16.
Therobot 10 may be controlled by a number of different users. To accommodate for this the robot may have an arbitration system. The arbitration system may be integrated into the operating system of therobot 12. For example, the arbitration technique may be embedded into the operating system of the high-level controller 50.
By way of example, the users may be divided into classes that include the robot itself, a local user, a caregiver, a doctor, a family member, or a service provider. Therobot 12 may override input commands that conflict with robot operation. For example, if the robot runs into a wall, the system may ignore all additional commands to continue in the direction of the wall. A local user is a person who is physically present with the robot. The robot could have an input device that allows local operation. For example, the robot may incorporate a voice recognition system that receives and interprets audible commands.
A caregiver is someone who remotely monitors the patient. A doctor is a medical professional who can remotely control the robot and also access medical files contained in the robot memory. The family and service users remotely access the robot. The service user may service the system such as by upgrading software, or setting operational parameters.
Message packets may be transmitted between arobot 12 and aremote station 16. The packets provide commands and feedback. Each packet may have multiple fields. By way of example, a packet may include an ID field a forward speed field, an angular speed field, a stop field, a bumper field, a sensor range field, a configuration field, a text field and a debug field.
The identification of remote users can be set in an ID field of the information that is transmitted from theremote control station 16 to therobot 12. For example, a user may enter a user ID into a setup table in the application software run by theremote control station 16. The user ID is then sent with each message transmitted to the robot.
Therobot 12 may operate in one of two different modes; an exclusive mode, or a sharing mode. In the exclusive mode only one user has access control of the robot. The exclusive mode may have a priority assigned to each type of user. By way of example, the priority may be in order of local, doctor, caregiver, family and then service user. In the sharing mode two or more users may share access with the robot. For example, a caregiver may have access to the robot, the caregiver may then enter the sharing mode to allow a doctor to also access the robot. Both the caregiver and the doctor can conduct a simultaneous tele-conference with the patient.

The arbitration scheme may have one of four mechanisms; notification, timeouts, queue and call back. The notification mechanism may inform either a present user or a requesting user that another user has, or wants, access to the robot. The timeout mechanism gives certain types of users a prescribed amount of time to finish access to the robot. The queue mechanism is an orderly waiting list for access to the robot. The call back mechanism informs a user that the robot can be accessed. By way of example, a family user may receive an e-mail message that the robot is free for usage. Tables 1 and 2, show how the mechanisms resolve access request from the various users.

Table I

User	Access Control	Medical Record	Command Override	Software/Debug Access	Set Priority
Robot	No	No	Yes (1)	No	No
Local	No	No	Yes (2)	No	No
Caregiver	Yes	Yes	Yes (3)	No	No
Doctor	No	Yes	No	No	No
Family	No	No	No	No	No
Service	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

The information transmitted between thestation 16 and therobot 12 may be encrypted. Additionally, the user may have to enter a password to enter thesystem 10. A selected robot is then given an electronic key by thestation 16. Therobot 12 validates the key and returns another key to thestation 16. The keys are used to encrypt information transmitted in the session.
Figure 4 shows a system with a plurality ofremote stations 16A, 16B and 16C that can access arobot 12 through thenetwork 18. The system can be set into a session mode wherein a masterremote station 16A controls movement of the robot and receives both video and audio information from the robot camera and speaker, respectively. Theobserver stations 16B and 16C may also receive audio and visual information transmitted between therobot 12 and thestation 16A. This mode allows multiple users atstations 16B and 16C to observe use of the robot while a teacher or master atstation 16A moves the robot.
During a session the masterremote station 16A can retransmit the audio/visual information received from therobot 12 to theobserver stations 16B and 16C. This can be done by changing the ID(s) in the ID field of the data packets received from the robot and then retransmitting the packets to the observer stations. Alternatively, the masterremote station 16A can instruct the robot to transmit the audio and visual information to themaster 16A, and theobserver 16B and 16C remote stations. It being understood that eachremote station 16A, 16B and 16C has a unique network identifier such as an IP address that allows the robot to direct information to each station. The packets may contain a BROADCAST field that contains the station IDs for the remote stations that are to receive packets from the robot. The BROADCAST field may be filled by themaster station 16A.
The session mode allows for training through the robot. For example, the masterremote station 16A may be operated by a physician who moves the robot into visual and audio contact with a patient. The observerremote stations 16B an 16C may be manned by personnel such as interns that observe and receive instructional training on providing care giving to the patient. Although instruction of medical personnel is described, the system can be used to train any group of users that are remotely located from a training area. For example, the system may be used to train personnel at a department store or allow potential buyers of real estate property to remotely view the property.
Figure 5 shows a display user interface ("DUI") 200 displayed at themaster control station 16A. TheDUI 200 may include arobot view field 202 that displays a video image captured by the camera of the robot. TheDUI 200 may also include astation view field 204 that displays a video image provided by the camera of the masterremote station 16A. TheDUI 200 may be part of an application program stored and operated by thecomputer 22 of theremote station 16A.
TheDUI 200 may include a "Connect"button 206 that can be selected to connect the station to a robot. Selection of theConnect button 206 may cause the display of pull-down screens, etc. that allow the user to select a desired robot. System settings and options can be selected throughbuttons 208 and 210, respectively.
One of the options is to allow for multicasting.Figure 6 shows amenu 212 with an "Enable Multicasting"box 214 that can be "checked" to allow for other remote station to join a multi-cast session.
A user at an observer station may attempt a connection with the same robot. If a robot is already in use the screen may display amessage box 216 as shown inFigure 7A. Themessage box 216 includes an "OK"button 218 that allows the user to request joining the session as an observer. If the user presently connected to the robot has not enabled the multicasting feature then amessage 220 may be displayed indicating this fact as shown inFigure 7B. If the user selected theOK button 218 then the master user may receive themessage 222 shown inFigure 7C. The message includes an "Accept"button 224 and a "Deny"button 226 that allows the master user to accept or deny the request to observe the session, respectively. When an observer is accepted the observers may receive the audio/video feeds from by the robot.
User's that are accepted are displayed in anobserver view field 228 of the mastercontrol station DUI 200 shown inFig. 5. Thefield 228 can provide video images of the users captured by the cameras of the observer remote control stations. Each video image may also include a caption of the observer's name. The field includes a scroll downtab 230 that allows the master user to scroll down the video images of the observers.
The master user can right click on any observer video image to display the pull downmenu 232 shown inFigure 8. The pull downmenu 228 allows the master user to select various options for the selected observer. The pull downmenu 232 includes an "Allow The Robot To Hear This User"feature 234 that can be selected so that the observer can provide audio to the robot. The system may allow for simultaneous three way audio between the robot, master user and one observer. Both the master and the observer stations include a "Push To Talk"icon 236. If there is more than one observer then the "Push To Talk"icon 236 is enabled and the observer must continuously select theicon 232 to talk, much like a walkie-talkie button. The space bar may also be pushed after theicon 236 is selected to allow audio communication to the robot. When Push To Talk is selected then anicon 238 can be displayed in the observers video image to indicate which observer is providing audio input to the robot. The master and observer stations may also have a "Local Talk"icon 240. Selecting the Local Talk icon allows for textual communication between just the remote stations, popping up a text chat dialog box within each interface, which allows the master and observers to exchange text messages. Prior to displaying the text chat dialog box, a popup dialog box (not shown) may be displayed to the user who initiated Local Talk, which would list all current session participants, and allow the user to select only those participants to be part of the Local Talk. There may be a "Limit Voice" box (not shown) that can be selected to limit audio output of participants in the local chat to only those other remote stations participating in the local chat.
An "Allow Robot To See This User"feature 242 can be selected so that the observer's video image is provided to the monitor of the robot instead of the master user's video image. The observer's video image may be displayed in thestation view field 204 when that observer's image is provided to the robot. The "Allow This User To See Robot Video" 244 and "Allow This User To Hear Robot Audio" features 246 can be selected so that the observer receives the video and audio feeds from the robot, respectively.
The "Head Control"feature 248 allows the selected observer to control the robot head to move the robot camera. The "Driving"feature 250 allows the observer to drive the robot. When the Driving feature is selected robot data such as position sensor data, battery power, etc. are provided to the selected observer's remote station. The "Camera & Aux Video Control" feature 252 allows the observer to control robot camera functions such as zoom, brightness, etc. The master no longer has the head, driving and camera controls when these features are transferred to an observer.
Themenu 232 includes a "Telestration" feature 254 that allows an observer to annotate an image provided by to robot. For example, the image can be a document or an X-ray. An observer can annotate the image, for example to circle and area of the X-ray to help communicate with a patient at the robot site. The master or any observer can enable a cursor function by selecting a "Live Cursor"icon 256. Selecting theicon 256 allows the user to move acursor 258 that is overlayed on the robot video image. Thecursor 258 is provided on theimage field 202 for all remote stations in a session. The master and observers can each be designated a different color so that different cursors can be distinguished by the users. Thecursor color 260 can be displayed in the video image of the master or the observer.
The robot may connected to a medical instrument such as a stethoscope. The "Stethescope" feature 262 of the pull downmenu 232 allows the observers to receive instrument input from the stethoscope. Themenu 232 may have a "Give This User Master Control" feature 264 that allows the selected observer to become a master user. The master can also disconnect an observer by selecting the "Disconnect This User" feature 266.
Figure 9 shows auser interface 270 for observer. The interface does not include robot control functions unless enabled by the master user. Theinterface 270 is similar to themaster DUI 200, but lacks certain robot controls.
Referring again toFig. 5, both therobot view field 202 and thestation view field 204 may have associated graphics to vary the video and audio displays. For example, each field may have graphical slide bars 280 and 282 to vary the zoom and brightness of the cameras, respectively. A still picture may be taken at either the robot or remote station by selecting one of thegraphical camera icons 284. The still picture may be the image presented at thecorresponding field 202 or 204 at the time thecamera icon 284 is selected. Capturing and playing back video can be taken throughgraphical icons 286. A return to real time video can be resumed, after the taking of a still picture, captured video, or reviewing a slide show, by selecting agraphical LIVE button 288.
The local controls can include slide bars for thelocal station speaker 290 andmicrophone 292. Also displayed is amicrophone meter icon 294 that varies with the volume of the user's voice. The robot volume may be different from the user's input volume. The remote controls also includes amicrophone meter icon 296 that represents the user's audio volume at the robot. The robot may have a local volume control so that user's at the robot site can vary the robot speaker volume. Normally themeter icons 294 and 296 will represent essentially the same value. The robot volume may be different from the user's input volume, for example, if the robot local volume control is adjusted the at the robot site. As shown inFigure 10, if this occurs thevolume slide bar 292 may be enabled to allow the user to vary the microphone. The DUI may also display a "Reset"button 298 that can be selected to automatically reset the robot speaker volume to a center position.
Referring toFig. 5, therobot view field 202 may include a "Video Mute To Robot"feature 300 which when selected prevents audio and video transmission to the robot from all remote stations.Field 202 may also have a "Master/Robot Privacy"feature 302 that can prevent the observer stations from receiving robot video and audio from both the robot and the master control station.
The master user can also be allowed to control the bandwidth of the system by controlling the video feeds to the observer stations.Figure 11 shows adialog box 310 that displays the bandwidth usage of various participants in a session, along with network health parameters such as packet losses and jitter between participants. "Drop Vid"buttons 312 may be placed next to observer stations so that the master user can drop a particular observer's video.
Figure 12 shows anon-mobile robot head 320 that can both pivot and spin thecamera 38 and themonitor 40. Therobot head 320 can be similar to therobot 12 but without theplatform 110. Therobot head 320 may have the same mechanisms and parts to both pivot thecamera 38 and monitor 40 about a pivot axis 4, and spin thecamera 38 and monitor 40 about aspin axis 5. The pivot axis may intersect the spin axis. Having arobot head 320 that both pivots and spins provides a wide viewing area. Therobot head 320 may be in the system either with or instead of themobile robot 12.
The system may have numerous applications. For example, a physician intensivist may initiate a remote presence session with a robot in order to diagnose a patient in an Emergency Room. Upon examining the patient, the physician may realize that the patient assessment will require consultation by a neurology specialist. The intensivist calls the neurologist by phone, asking him to join the session. Upon receiving the telephone request, the neurologist opens his laptop, selects the robot in question from the robot list in the interface, and clicks "Connect". Seeing the message inFig. 7A, he clicks "OK" and then sees the message inFig. 7B. The intensivist meanwhile sees the message inFig. 7C and clicks "Accept". At this point the neurologist receives the robot video and can hear both the robot-side audio and the intensivist.
The intensivist uses the Live Cursor to point to the patient's face and EEG data on a wall. The neurologist obtains background information that can be provided by a nurse standing next to the patient and in front of the robot, as well as ICU-specific information provided by the intensivist on the master control station. Then, the neurologist can provide an audio assessment of the patient's condition. The intensivist then right-clicks on the thumbnail image of the neurologist infield 288, and clicks the appropriate features in the pull-down menu to allow the neurologist to be seen and heard on the robot. The neurologist can then inform both the patient and family of the condition.
In another application, a surgeon may be logged onto a robot and performing rounds in patient rooms within a hospital. Residents from hospitals in other cities join the session in the manner described above. The surgeon describes what he is doing to the residents, who may ask questions, and thereby learn the best way to round patients.
In another application, a hospital CEO may connect to the robot, and telephones three prospective doctors whom the hospital is courting to join the staff. These doctors each join the session as discussed above. The CEO then uses the joystick to drive the robot through the hospital, performing a virtual tour, and discusses the facility with the observer physicians.
In yet another application, a sales VP of an MRI manufacturing company may connect to a robot in the laboratory wing of a hospital, and then phones the COO of a different hospital to join the session. Upon joining, the sales VP drives the robot into the MRI lab and drives around the MRI machine, describing its features. An on-site MRI technician operates certain controls on the direction of the sales VP. The sales VP explains to the COO the various benefits of purchasing the MRI machine.
While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.

Claims

A remote controlled robot system, comprising:
a first remote control station (16A) receiving video from a robot (12), said first remote control station located at a first location;
a second remote control station (16B) receiving video from said robot (12), said second remote control station located at a second location different from said first location;
wherein said first remote station (16A) displays a display user interface (200) including:
a robot view field (202) that displays said video provided by said robot (12); and
wherein the first remote control station is a master remote control station having exclusive control of the robot and the second remote control station is an observer remote control station; and
characterised in that the display user interface further comprises an observer view field (228) that displays observer information about an observer at the observer remote control station (16B), and
a manually selectable feature (232, 248, 250) that allows the master remote control station to transfer control of said robot (12) to the observer remote station (16B).
The system of claim 1, wherein said video is provided by a robot camera (38).
The system of claim 1, further comprising a station view field (204) that display video provided by a camera of a remote control station (16A, 16B).
The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more messages that allow an additional observer remote control station (16C) to join a session.
The system of claim 1, further comprising a selectable feature (232) that:
a) controls a transmission of audio from said observer remote control station (16B) to said robot (12); or
b) controls a transmission of video from said observer remote control station (16B) to said robot (12); or
c) controls a transmission of audio from said robot (12) to said observer remote control station (16B); or
d) controls a transmission of video from said robot (12) to said observer remote control station (16B).
The system of claim 1, further comprising a selectable feature that allows:
a) said observer remote control station (16B) to control at least one camera parameter of said robot (12); or
b) said observer remote control station (16B) to receive instrument data from an instrument coupled to said robot (12); or
c) said observer remote control station (16B) to annotate said robot videos, said annotation being displayed in said robot view field (202).
The system of claim 1, further comprising a selectable feature (266) that disconnects an observer remote control station (16B).
The system of claim 1, wherein said observer view field (228) displays a video image provided by an observer remote control station (16B).
The system of claim 1, further comprising a dialog box that displays a system bandwidth usage and allows a user to vary said system bandwidth usage.
The system of claim 1, further comprising a selectable feature that allows communication only between a plurality of remote control stations.
The system of any preceding claim further, comprising: a local microphone meter that represents a volume of audio provided to a microphone of a remote control station; and, a remote microphone meter that represents a volume of audio generated by a robot speaker.
The system of claim 11, further comprising a selectable feature that can reset a robot speaker volume.
The system of claim 11, further comprising a selectable feature to vary a volume of said remote control station microphone.
The system of claim 11, wherein the manually selectable feature allows said observer remote control station (16B) to become a master remote control station (16A).